Colorado To Debate Gay Unions Bill

Colorado State Senator Pat Steadman is
sponsoring a bill that would give gay couples many of the same
benefits and responsibilities of marriage.

Steadman, an openly gay Democrat, told
the Colorado
Independent that he's proposing the law because a
constitutional amendment bans gay marriage in the state.

“Promoting a lesser status for gay
people is not ideal,” he said, but added that in the short term
“people could really benefit from civil unions.”

Over the last couple of years,
Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont have scrapped their civil
unions laws in favor of full marriage, leaving only New Jersey, which
passed on the upgrade last year, to offer the union.